There's a service--quick phone unlock (.com?) that is becoming a hit for at least Z30 unlocking ($20, fast turnaround time.) I can't imagine their Z10 unlocking service being more expensive than the Z30's.

Nope, that site is showing $39.99 for me. And that quote is for ANY BB10 phone. Different GSM carriers have different methods so sometimes some may cost less to unlock.

So for this reason, I'm looking for an independent unlocker, perhaps just starting out, who wants to build his/her reputation.

There has to be someone here that can give me a better price than that. I don't care what the reason or legalities involved are...the Z10 price has dropped dramatically...so should the cost to unlock it no matter the method.

Call Magenta and tell them you will be traveling internationally for the holidays and would like to use local sim cards. If you are in good standing and have been with them for a while, they will unlock it for FREE. After providing your IMEI # they will put in a request directly to BlackBerry for your unlock code. It will be sent to you within 24 hours with basically a single step instruction. Easy as pie. Your device will then be unlocked for FREE.

I just did this myself Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon I received the unlock code.

If you are on a payment plan for your device, or have not been an established customer with them for a period of time, you MUST tell them you are planning on traveling internationally! That is the only exemption!
If you say you just want to do it for the heck of it, they will say no if you owe anything on the device or if your account is not paid up to date.

^that's a good suggestion. I don't think they'll do this, but if you are a Simple Choice customer and they suggest you stick to Simple Global, tell them a) you'll be gone for at least a month, or b) you're going to a country that's not covered under Simple Global.

Call Magenta and tell them you will be traveling internationally for the holidays and would like to use local sim cards. If you are in good standing and have been with them for a while, they will unlock it for FREE. After providing your IMEI # they will put in a request directly to BlackBerry for your unlock code. It will be sent to you within 24 hours with basically a single step instruction. Easy as pie. Your device will then be unlocked for FREE.

I just did this myself Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon I received the unlock code.

If you are on a payment plan for your device, or have not been an established customer with them for a period of time, you MUST tell them you are planning on traveling internationally! That is the only exemption!
If you say you just want to do it for the heck of it, they will say no if you owe anything on the device or if your account is not paid up to date.

I have a backup Z10 too. I waited 90 days per policy, called back to ask for a second unlock for that phone, and they have a policy where it must be in use to get it unlocked.

I stuck my SIM in there for a few hours, called back today and asked for a code. It showed up in their system now. Now that the request is in, I'm back to using my primary Z10, the one that is set up for me.

If they come back in the email and say we aren't showing activity on this device so we can't unlock it, or give any other reason for a no go, I will be back here begging for a cheap unlock.